Farm objectives

"The creativity, ideals and courage of the worlds youth must be mobilized towards the creation of a global collaboration whose objectives are; sustainable development and the securing of a better future for us all."

[Declarations of Rio in regards to environment and development, United Nations Conference Rio de Janeiro, June 1992]

To ensure this better future for us all, members of the European Community (including the Italian state), environmental associations, and the United Nations Organization have all made proclamations-as well as initiated innumerable act, resolutions, and action programs - with the stated aim of protecting our environments biodiversity with an additional emphasis on sustainable development. [Works cited below*]

Making the above objectives our own, the farms of Altaura and Monte Ceva have (within their properties) initiated the re-naturalization of the plains forest and the Eugenean Hills landscape. Our intentions are to reach a balance between the demands of man and those of nature. We propose to achieve this upon our farms by first returning to more traditional farming practices and then finding the equilibrium of those traditions with alternative innovative methods.

The landscape that originally produced nutrients for immediate demands has evolved. That indicates that the operators and cultivators of the forest must grow an educational and instructional awareness that harbours a value, knowledge, and fun-appreciation of the countryside as a rural landscape. This indication put into implementation would provide example of sustainable development integrated with agriculture. In this sense, ‘agriculture’ then becomes a ‘growth culture’- encompassing elements of environment and landscape with physical and mental well-being - which can then be integrated into our cultural markets of goods and services.
It was in this spirit that in 1998 the whole of both farms were converted over to organic cultivation methods. Recent studies reveal, what we have also verified on our farms, which is that these methods induce biodiversity-including a greater number of wild plants and animals into all levels of the food chain.

On both farms, the restoration of buildings has followed the techniques of bio-ecological architecture. A biomass furnace has been installed to provide heat. Pruning of the surrounding hedges and forest provides the by-products needed to feed this furnace.
In the year 2000 the farms were opened to the public as ‘Didactic Farm Schools’. The activities and courses offered to the farms visitors are intended to contribute to the diffusion of patrimonial knowledge in the areas of environment, agricultural landscapes, and the traditions associated with them. Through experimentation, we gain appreciation and enjoyment of the values and sensations stemming from the agricultural world. Here also we have the possibility to concretely verify that which would be lost if those proclamations and resolutions regarding environmental stewardship made at the international, national, and local community levels were not followed.

At the ‘Educational Farm Schools’, adults and children of all ages are invited to realize that the environmental problems of today are better faced through collaboration of all interested citizens-each contributing to their own abilities. [Principles 9 and 10 of the Rio Declarations] And, that all interested citizens are best served by promoting conservation and stewardship in the agricultural territories of their homelands.

Maria Dalla Francesca,
owner of the farm. Padova, august 2005.

*Code of the Cultural Heritage and Landscape, in accordance with Article 10 of the Law N°137 - 6/7/2002. Legislative Decree N° 41 - 22/01/2004, came into effect on 1/5/2004.
Enhancement of the Agricultural Landscape Project sponsored by Italia Nostra with study meetings, conventions and initiatives from 2002 to 2004.
Convention 850/03 of the European Community.
Cork Declaration. Alive Rural Area.European Conference on Rural Development, Cork - Irland, November 1996.
Rio Declaration. Environment and Development. United Nations Conference, Rio do Janeiro - Brazil, June 1992.
Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. European Community, Council Decision 82/72EEC 3/12/1981.